Saturday, April 23, 2011

So here I am, 3 months later and yes, I still love my gym time! In fact, now that cold/flu season is over and we're all healthy, I've been able to go a lot more than in the beginning. I have also taken up running outdoors, thanks to my good friend Hannah for motivating me to do so. She's a great running partner.

Here are a few things that contribute to my success in keeping with my workout schedule.

Brian is a great daddy and he watches the kids for me so I can work out in peace!

I wait until the kids are in bed most days so I can go after everyone has had dinner and is sleeping.

It never hurts to have a workout buddy. Hannah has been a great motivator even though we don't get to actually workout together a lot, we keep each other held accountable. I can't wait for summer so I can actually go running more with her.

I made it my Lenten promise to go to the gym 3-4x a week so I could create a new habit.

Lastly, my body! My body feels so great now that I've been working out and it's starting to actually LOOK great too!

I'm a little excited about the fact that for the second time in my life (the first being when I ran track my senior hear in HS) I have a butt LOL. It just feels great to be getting in shape and actually see a change in my appearance for the better. 18 months of pregnancy combined with 20 months of breastfeeding can really change your body in some strange and unexpected ways, so it's great to actually start liking my body again.

I mostly just was going to the gym, but I started running outside this week and it feels awesome. I'm going to start parking at the gym and going for a run in the business park (once or twice around) and then back to the gym for either upper or lower body exercises. I did this today and ran the 1.6 miles in about 16 minutes then walked up to do my lower body workout.

Brian has also been really dedicated to going to the YMCA. He joined the Y about a week after I joined my gym. His job takes care of the majority of the cost which is really nice! He goes about 4x a week too and can see a difference as well. I'm really proud of him that he made this decision on his own and started finding that motivation and drive to want to get in shape too! Guys can be, eh hem, stubborn sometimes and it's nice that he's interested in becoming healthier and in shape :).

I know, I'm not special, I'm not the only one to ever grace the inside of a gym, but I just wanted to share my small victory over my workout struggle. I know, as moms, we struggle with finding time and motivation mainly. I hope this inspires other moms to join with me :).